A prior art community access television (CATV) system typically requires that a set top terminal be connected to a user's television set to receive channels or special select services offered by the CATV provider. In a digital CATV network environment, CATV providers assign Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to each set top terminal connected to the network. The IP addresses are used to distinguish one set top terminal from another so that direct channels, channel information and/or select services in the form of data can be delivered from a headend to a specific set top terminal. Because set top terminals are not permanently located within the CATV system, addresses are often reassigned to set top terminals. For example, a user could move to a different location and install the set top terminal at the new location, purchases a new set top terminal, add a second set top terminal to the location, or remove a set top terminal from the location.
Additionally, more than one set top terminal can be found in a user's home. When there is more than one set top terminal in a user's home, the set top terminals can function in a master-slave relationship. In prior art CATV systems, the master-slave arrangement requires a technically knowledgeable installer to go to the user's home and connect a serial cable between the master and slave set top terminals. The serial cable is used to transfer commands from the master set top terminal to the slave terminal. Commands are initiated when a user presses a key on a keypad of a remote control device. The remote control device transmits a signal (often an infrared (IR) signal) to the set top terminal. Because both set top terminals are in the same proximity, the slave terminal can mistakenly receive commands from the remote control that were intended for the master set top terminal. In prior art CATV systems, because the master and the slave set top terminals are connected together by a serial cable the problem of mistakenly receiving commands cannot be easily solved by placing the slave set top terminal in a separate room. The present invention solves these problems by enabling set top terminals or other computer type devices or computers associated with a communications network to remotely locate each other and establish a master-slave relationship without initially knowing the other's IP address.